[The mitral valve prolapse syndrome as an aetiological factor in cardiophobia and juvenile insult (author's transl)].

The mitral valve prolapse may be an aetiological factor in anxiety neurosis and in transitory ischemias and cerebral insults in young adults. This syndrome must be considered in the differential diagnosis of cardiophobia. The symptoms of anxiety in the mitral valve prolapse syndrome are in no way different from the subjective symptoms in cardiophobia and in the other syndromes of free floating anxiety. The diagnosis of cardiophobia, including the wider scope covered by the syndrome of anxiety neurosis, should therefore include, besides other somatic examinations, echocardiography and long-term ECG examination. In the field of neurology, the prolapse of the mitral valve must be taken into consideration in all transitory ischaemic attacks and cerebral infarctions in relatively young patients.